On April 6, 1954, I was born at the California Hospital on South Hope street in Los Angeles, California.
Nine years later my parents bought me my first trumpet from a pawnshop in downtown Los Angeles. The trumpet was a King Symphonic 20. It felt very natural for me to play the trumpet. In no time I was captivating all the cute little girls in my 5th grade class by playing my rendition of the popular hit, Downtown, while sitting around the lunch tables in the school yard. I was hooked on music and that trumpet and there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to play music for the rest of my life.
While attending John Muir Junior High School in Burbank California, I had the good fortune of having Graham Young as the director of the stage band. Without a doubt, it was because of Graham Young and the natural talent that I was born with, that has made music and trumpet playing my life long passion. In the 6th grade I auditioned for and became the youngest member of the Burbank Police Boys Band. In 1968 I marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Also in 1968, my family moved to Detroit Michigan, and it was in Detroit, while attending jazz improvisation classes at the Metropolitan Arts Complex in the inner city, that I met Marcus Belgrave, Ali Muhammad Jackson, Sam Sanders, and Harold McKinney. All of these cats are jazz masters and legends in their own time. I was 17 years old at the time.
After graduating from high school I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston for a brief time before deciding to return to Detroit. It was at Berklee where I first met Yekkim. Yekkim and I have been friends and music buddies ever since. Yekkim is the greatest musician I have ever known. I don't think Bartok has too much on Yekkim. Hear for youself. Go to YekkimWorld. After returning to Detroit, I joined the newly forming jazz department at Oakland University under the direction of Marvin "Doc" Holladay. (Doc's bio.) Ali Jackson was also teaching at Oakland University. It wasn't long after my return to Detroit that Ali took me under his wing and schooled me about jazz music. Ali was poured out of the same mold as Charlie Parker. Tad Dameron taught Ali about the ancestral music. In turn, Ali taught me about the ancestral music.
Ali renamed me Junior Hill in 1972. This was a time when there were still quite a few jazz organ trios playing in little neighborhood social clubs. There was a lot of good soul food to eat and authentic jazz music to listen to. Not only was I learning how to play Jazz Music, but I was living it as well. This was a very palpable time for me. I played in various groups while in Detroit, but mostly with Ali The Chosen And Beloved and The Silver Flutes Flourish. (My TCAB Studio is named in honor of Ali The Chosen And Beloved.) Our motto was, "Save The Children and Comfort the Old Folks. Keep the ol' folks warm and fed." We performed for anyone under 10 and over 60 years of age for free. I also played in a groups led by Marcus Belgrave and Ed Nuccilli. Marcus continues to be in high demand for jazz festivals and cool gigs all over this planet. Ed Nuccilli continues to write and record his original compositions as well as play his trumpet around the Detroit area.
In 1974, at the age of 21, I moved back to Southern California, and for the next 6 years continued my life as a jazz trumpet player, seeking out gigs and playing situations wherever I could. I attended hundreds of interminable jam sessions throughout LA and Orange County. I worked with some great jazz players. Some of the names that come to mind now are Leroy Vinegar, Lamont Johnson, Rudy Johnson, Candy Finch, Wilber Brown, John Lemon, Harper Crosby, Dwight Dickerson, Al Williams, Charles Owens, Joe Azarello, Jim Murphy, Bruce Bennett, and the list goes on. (Listen to a sample from Bruce Bennett's Little Owl CD.)
In 1980, I moved to San Francisco. For the next 10 years I went underground and began composing and recording my own music at TCAB Studio. Solo efforts. I experimented with some new harmonic centers. I spent five years distributing cassettes of my recorded works throughout Europe and the United States.
I reemerged into the Jazz scene in San Francisco in 1990, and began making guest appearances at various clubs before settling in with Oakland Bebop legend, Vince Wallace. With Vince on tenor sax and myself on trumpet, we spent the next few years leading an all-star group comprised of some of the best players in the Bay Area. We recorded an album at TCAB Studio entitled "Only Trust Your Heart " and continued to perform throughout the Bay Area. After spending many years outside the scope of Bebop, the time spent with Vince Wallace brought me back to my jazz roots.
Currently, I continue to compose and record my music in the San Francisco Bay area. I have created this web site to share the music from TCAB Studio. Go Jolly, Stay Healthy, Be Smart, Think Funny and Stay Tuned.
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